Ministry News

Will the Remnant Have A Creed?

The city of Nicaea was a large and important metropolis in 325 A.D. It received it’s name from Lysimachus, one of the four generals who divided Alexander’s empire amongst themselves. Lysimachus captured the city in 301 B.C. and renamed it for his wife, who had recently died. Located in present day Turkey, it was only a little ways southeast from Byzantium, soon to be renamed Constantinople and to become the new Roman capitol.

But in June of 325 the city was a bustle of activity and excitement. The emperor, Constantine himself, had arrived. With all the grand trappings of the imperial court, he was coming to attend the first ecumenical council of the recently legalized Christian religion. Three hundred and eighteen specially invited bishops had come to discuss the issue then dividing the Christian church and threatening to split the newly reunited empire. The main issue of discussion was the nature and origin of Jesus Christ. Arius contended that He was a created being with a beginning sometime before all other creatures. But other Christian leaders and bishops believed He was a divine being, with no beginning.

This council was a landmark in Christianity, being the first council ever to be called by the state, instead of the church. It was necessary therefore, that Constantine be there in person. “Resplendent in purple and gold, Constantine made a ceremonial entrance at the opening of the council... but respectfully seated the bishops ahead of himself.” Carroll, Warren (1 March 1987), The Building of Christendom page 11. The emperor presided over the council but cast no vote in the proceedings. But whatever decision the council made, he was prepared to enforce it with imperial might.

The result of that council, sanctioned and enforced by the state, was the first official Christian creed. Taking it’s name from the city itself, the Nicene Creed set forth the belief that Christ had no beginning, He was as divine as God Himself. But it did more than this, it also denounced and repudiated Arius and all who believed and taught his doctrine. Beyond this, it separated the computation of the time for Easter from the Jewish method of calculating the time for Passover.

There was a big push among Christians of this time to disassociate themselves from the Jews. Ever since the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. the Jews had been despised and hated in the empire. The Christians, therefore, did not want to be linked in any way to this hated race. This feeling of needing to differentiate themselves from the Jews, had led many in the church to adopt the practice of celebrating Sunday instead of the Jewish Sabbath. This practice was officially embodied in the Nicene Creed by separating Easter from the Jewish Passover.

Constantine was very much in favor of this change. He had already issued the first Sunday law in 321. In order to replace all the pagan based “lucky and unlucky days” of the pagan empire, he instituted the official day of rest for the empire as the “Christian” Sunday sabbath. The strange thing about this, of course, was that Sunday was not the Bible Sabbath, but one of the normal pagan “unlucky days” on which no business could be contracted. But it wasn’t strange in Constantine’s mind, because he was trying to unite his pagan and Christian subjects under Christianity.

But getting back to that first creed, it did even more than deal with Easter. It also set forth that the Paulicians were not considered Christian and would have to be re-baptized to join the Orthodox Catholic Church. Who were the Paulicians? Officially they were followers of Paul of Samosata. According to historical records, his doctrines were heretical, and he was a self serving egotist. But before we throw out the Paulicians as a fanatical sect, blindly following a mad man, who was creating a cult, let us consider the fact that the Paulician label was generously applied by Rome to almost everyone who still kept the seventh day Sabbath. Many of the people labeled Paulician retained the original Greek Bible (the one the KJV is based on) and insisted on the doctrines of the apostles. So the creed not only set forth the beliefs of the Orthodox Roman Church, but it excommunicated (disfellowshipped) all who taught and practiced differently from that church.

When the council dissolved in 325, Arius and all who refused to abide by the Nicene Creed were excommunicated from the church and exiled by the emperor. Such was the immediate result of the Nicene Creed and such has been the result of all the creeds that have been formed by Christian groups ever since. John Loughborough said in 1861 “The first step of apostasy is to get up a creed, telling us what we shall believe. The second is, to make that creed a test of fellowship. The third is to try members by that creed. The fourth to denounce as heretics those who do not believe that creed. And, fifth, to commence persecution against such.” J.N. Loughborough, Review and herald, October 8, 1861.

The Nicene Creed, the first official creed, was formulated by a corrupt church for the purpose of forcing her doctrines on all Christians. It marked the beginning of the persecution of Christians against Christians, and the world plunged into the Dark Ages. But with the Protestant Reformation the world began to emerge from that darkness. The Protestants broke free from Rome, but they did not realize that creeds were at the root of Rome’s power and authority. Seeking to rival Rome, they formed creeds of their own. They demanded freedom for themselves but persecuted those who rejected their creed. Thus we find Protestants persecuting Protestants.

At one point during the Reformation, the Swiss Protestants under Zwingli attempted to unite with the German protestants under Luther. They tried hard but could not agree on their creed. There was one point in the Swiss creed that the Germans would not accept and the Swiss would not accept that point in the German creed. Thus it was the fault of the creeds that Protestantism never united. To this day we have conflicting Protestant church denominations because they will not give up their creeds but insist that all who join them adhere to their creed, because their church is built on it.

Sister White tells us about those who base their faith on their creeds, “They are so fearful lest something shall be introduced that will turn away the people from their creeds and dogmas, and divert the means into other channels, that they spare no effort to excite prejudice, and resort to commands and threats to prevent their members from going to hear Bible preaching... They do not, like Luther, test their doctrines by the Bible, but by their creed, their church customs, the practices of the Fathers. Their so-called Lutheranism is little better than Catholicism with the name of Luther attached to it.” Ellen G. White, Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists (1886) page 198.

It’s no different than what the Jews were doing at the time of Christ. We read, “He (Jesus) told them that they made the commandments of God of no effect through their tradition. The requirements of men were placed where the requirements of God should have been, and Jesus charged them with being ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God. It is Satan's studied plan to pervert the Scriptures, and to lead men to put a false construction on the words of God. He has led the Roman Church to take a position that the Bible is to be read in the light of the interpretation of the Fathers and of the Church, and therefore the Lord cannot penetrate the minds of the members of this Church until they read the Bible as the word of the infinite God. All articles of faith, all doctrines and creeds, however sacred they have been regarded, are to be rejected if they contradict the plain statements of the word of God. If the Bible supports the doctrine we have held in the past, we are justified in retaining it; for the word of God gives us foundation for our faith.” Review and Herald, March 25, 1902.

The Advent believers in 1844 rejected all creeds, recognizing them as part of what made the churches Babylon. James White wrote, “It is the opinion of the mass of professors of religion, that human creeds are indispensable to the maintenance of gospel order. They seem to think that without creeds all would be confusion in the church. But what is the real condition of the churches with all their creeds to aid them? They are in a condition but little less than perfect confusion. And is it not a fact that creed making has produced the Babel confusion now existing among them? If it has, and it is evidently a clear case, then why talk of a human creed being indispensable to the maintenance of gospel order?” James White, Review and Herald, December 13, 1853.

Ellen White agreed with this, for she wrote in the Great Controversy, “Rome withheld the Bible from the people, and required all men to accept her teachings in its place. It was the work of the Reformation to restore to men the Word of God; but is it not too true that in the churches of our time men are taught to rest their faith upon their creed and the teachings of their church rather than on the Scriptures? Said Charles Beecher, speaking of the Protestant churches: ‘They shrink from any rude word against creeds with the same sensitiveness with which those holy fathers would have shrunk from a rude word against the rising veneration for saints and martyrs which they were fostering. . . The Protestant evangelical denominations have so tied up one another's hands, and their own, that, between them all, a man cannot become a preacher at all, anywhere, without accepting some book besides the Bible. . . . There is nothing imaginary in the statement that the creed power is now beginning to prohibit the Bible as really as Rome did, though in a subtler way.’” Great Controversy, 1888 edition page 388.

It was not a creed, a statement of belief and doctrine that united the Advent believers. It was a message, strong and powerful, a hope, uplifting and ennobling, a common goal and purpose that united them in bonds stronger than any union formed by a human creed. We read of that time, “If God's professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them from his Word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed, that which the apostle describes, ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ ‘There is,’ he says, ‘one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.’ Such were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted the Advent message. They “came from different denominations, and their denominational barriers were hurled to the ground; conflicting creeds were shivered to atoms; the unscriptural hope of a temporal millennium was abandoned, false views of the second advent were corrected, pride and conformity to the world were swept away; wrongs were made right; hearts were united in the sweetest fellowship, and love and joy reigned supreme. If this doctrine did this for the few who did receive it, it would have done the same for all, if all had received it.” Great Controversy, 1888 edition, page 379.

When the Advent believers officially organized themselves into the Seventh-day Adventist Church, they rejected the formation of a creed. “This peculiar people will stand forth free from the confusion of creeds; free from the traditions and commandments of men — keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” James White, Review and Herald, December 6, 1853.

They did adopt a covenant, one that new Adventists signed. “When the the tent was taken down, Brother Hare took it to Gisborne and began meetings... I remained at Napier with the intention of staying but a few weeks to establish the truth more firmly, and then going to a new place. But the interest increased so that I could not see my way clear to leave. About sixty persons have signed the covenant, making ninety-five in all. Of this number, fifty-four have joined the church. We expect to have baptism soon when about twenty more will join.” A. G. Daniels, General Conference Bulletin, October 18, 1889, page 46.

What was this covenant that the new members signed? It wasn’t 27 fundamental beliefs. It was simply this, “We, the undersigned, hereby associate ourselves together, as a church, taking the name, Seventh-day Adventists, covenanting to keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Christ.” Review and Herald, October 8, 1861.

Said James White, “The Bible! The Bible!—Let the Bible be your rule of faith, and of order. Take heed to the sure word, the light that shineth in a dark place.” James White, Review and Herald, December 6, 1853.

This covenant was very similar to that taken by the early Christian converts in Jerusalem. It is recorded that their covenant was this, “I believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in one Baptism of repentance.” Wikipedia article, “Creed of Jerusalem.”

“We walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

“We want no human creed; the Bible is sufficient. The divine order of the New Testament is sufficient to organize the church of Christ. If more were needed, it would have been given by inspiration. But with only that which was ‘given by inspiration of God,’ the man of God is ‘thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.” James White, Review and Herald, December 6, 1853.

Sister White tells us, “The prayer of Christ to His Father, contained in the seventeenth chapter of John, is to be our church creed. It shows us that our difference and disunion are dishonoring to God. Read the whole chapter, verse by verse.” Manuscript Releases Vol. 5 page 49.

Once in a while the Adventist covenant was altered to fit a particular case. “Among those who embraced the Sabbath here was a young man who was hopelessly given to intoxicating drink. Even his wife despaired of his ever reforming. He felt anxious to sign the covenant, so we presented it to him with the temperance pledge embodied in it. This he finally signed; and in a letter received from there about a month after, it was stated that he had not drank a drop of liquor since.” Historical Sketches of Foreign Missions, 1886 page 103.

What is a creed? It is an,“Officially authorized, usually brief statement of the essential articles of faith of a religious community, often used in public worship or initiation rites. Creeds are most numerous in Western traditions.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/creed

A creed is any statement of belief that is used as a test of fellowship. Even if this statement of belief is formulated as questions rather than statements, if it is used to test potential members, it is a creed. A creed is made up of doctrines, whether they are true or not. It is interesting that the covenant used by James White and the other leaders of the SDA church in 1861 falls under the definition of a creed as found in the dictionary, even though they claimed it was not a creed. Also, the Jerusalem creed was not recorded until well into the fourth century, years after the Nicene Creed was created. There is no evidence that it was used by Paul or the apostles.

We read in the Spirit of Prophecy that creeds are a part of the wine of Babylon. “Cut out this exclusiveness wherever it may be. The light God has given is for the world. It is not to be put under a bushel or under a bed. The devil is far from being narrow and proscribed in his work. This is plainly revealed by the rapidly increasing darkness, the multitudinous errors, heresies, misconceptions, and delusions of these last days. Creeds and false doctrines are popular and all pervading, to leave the minds of the world with the drinking of the wine of Babylon, the most deadly heresy. The neglect of plainest warnings will place us on the guilty list. Yes, we have plenty of evidence of Satan's might. We have evidence also that the day of work is nearly ended. Let every power that God has entrusted to His agencies be now employed. Restrict no one's labor, in any line if they are established in the truth, but let all work who will.” Manuscript Releases page 381.

“In the professedly Christian world many turn away from the plain teachings of the Bible and build up a creed from human speculations and pleasing fables, and they point to their tower as a way to climb up to heaven... The existing confusion of conflicting creeds and sects is fitly represented by the term ʻBabylon,ʼ which prophecy (Revelation 14:8; 18:2) applies to the world-loving churches of the last days.” Patriarchs and Prophets, page 124.

“The term Babylon, derived from Babel, and signifying confusion, is applied in Scripture to the various forms of false or apostate religion. But the message announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to some religious body that was once pure, and has become corrupt. It cannot be the Romish Church which is here meant; for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. But how appropriate the figure as applied to the Protestant churches, all professing to derive their doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects. The unity for which Christ prayed does not exist. Instead of one Lord, one faith, one baptism, there are numberless conflicting creeds and theories. Religious faith appears so confused and discordant that the world know not what to believe as truth. God is not in all this; it is the work of man,--the work of Satan.” Spirit of Prophecy Vol. 4 page 232.

“The work is before us individually. Our moral identity cannot be submerged in any human being. We shall be called of God to do our work according to our several ability. The vineyard is large and requires every jot of moral power everyone has had entrusted to him or her. Partition walls will be broken down. Everyone who will hear the message and believe the truth will no longer be confined, bound to creeds, but will take the Bible as his guide, as the very creed of life, as the waters of salvation. The very intensity of the light shining from heaven makes men messengers of truth and salvation. They cannot hold their peace. They have accepted the truth and emerged into the light, the light shining in these last days.” Manuscript Releases page 223.

Unfortunately, we have already seen the baleful results of forming a creed in the Remnant movement. Remember what Loughborough said in 1861? “The first step of apostasy is to get up a creed, telling us what we shall believe. The second is, to make that creed a test of fellowship. The third is to try members by that creed. The fourth to denounce as heretics those who do not believe that creed. And, fifth, to commence persecution against such.” J.N. Loughborough, Review and herald, October 8,1861.

We have seen these steps followed to the letter in the Seventh-day Remnant Church. We first came up with a set of test questions that embodied our doctrines. We then used it to test those who wanted to unite with us. Next, we tested our members by it and removed any who disagreed with any of the points in it. Then, one of our members trademarked the name Seventh-day Remnant, to protect us from those who might take it from us. He then decided that those who did not agree with our creed should not use our name. Then, when we disagreed with his methods of keeping the church pure and unified, using our creed, he decided that we should not use the name either and commenced persecution, by threatening legal action if we did not drop the name. He says he will never sue us, but is not the taking out of a trademark and the issuance of a cease and desist order a legal action? Using the courts of the land to enforce his creed on others, if they wish to use the name Seventh-day Remnant? In little less than 10 years we have seen the Seventh-day Remnant Church go from being the Remnant of her seed to being perfect Babylon. A closed structure, with fixed rules that all must abide by and believe in, or they are kicked out. Has there ever been a more rapid slide into apostasy than this? Let us not repeat these same mistakes again.

When a home church uses a series of questions to evaluate a potential new church member and expects the potential new member to answer the questions perfectly according to the church’s idea of truth, this is a creed. We don’t see this type of gospel order being used by either the Adventist pioneers, or the apostolic church.

We were a part of the group that formulated this creed. We promoted and used it too. We now see how wrong it really was and apologize for our part in advancing and upholding this wrong method of organization. Perhaps, if we had understood the danger of creeds and had stood against it right from the start, this split and the loss of the name would never have occurred. We bear at least a portion of the responsibility for the loss of the soul of this brother and those who have followed with him, but even though we have made a serious mistake in this, God will forgive and He is now giving us a second chance to organize on the right foundation. But if we refuse to correct our ways, will He not cast us off as a part of Babylon? Will He not find others who will do things according to His will? God is leading a people out of Babylon, but how can He separate us from Babylon if we continue to use policies of order that are the very foundation of Babylon?

“Some who have had great light have had an almost uncontrollable desire to bind all our medical institutions under the supervision of one power. I am instructed to say that this desire is prompted by the same spirit that in the world manifests itself in the efforts of the unions to become a controlling power. The work that God has given His people to do is to bind up the testimony, and to seal the law among His disciples... Let none say, ‘You must bind yourselves by specified agreements to do thus and so, or else you cannot be endorsed by us.’ The signing of such agreements must cease. The day for work of this kind is past. It has already wrought much mischief. The Lord is our guide and our ruler. Let us bind ourselves up with Him. God does not desire men to be under binding agreements; for He is to move in His own way. Every yoke is now to be broken. The truth as it is in Jesus is of sufficient binding force to hold every mind, control every impulse, and direct every movement. Those whom God would control if they would submit to Him, but who do not choose to walk humbly with Him, are not to make terms for others. Let every man look to God, not to men. The Lord God of heaven rules.” Manuscript Releases Vol. 4 page 71.

“This is a wonderful age in which we are living. God is beholding the deplorable state of society. He requires those who believe His gospel to come out from the world. ‘Be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.’ Human, kingly power among God’s people in any branch of his cause, as represented by the documents prepared for men to sign, is not ordained of God. Let those who believe the Bible study the principles that are to govern them in dealing with human minds. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. The selfishness that exalts one man to rule the minds of his fellow men, is not inspired of God; for the Lord works in and through those who will be worked by Him, and who in every line of Christian service will act in accordance with divine enlightenment.” Manuscript Releases Vol. 4 page 72.

A creed prevents growth and the acceptance of further light. Said James White,“In Eph. 4:11-13, we read, ‘And he gave some apostles, and some prophets,’ etc. Here we have the gifts of the church, presented. Now I take the ground that creeds stand in direct opposition to the gifts. Let us suppose a case: We get up a creed, stating just what we shall believe on this point and the other, and just what we shall do in reference to this thing and that, and say that we will believe the gifts too. But suppose the Lord, through the gifts, should give us some new light that did not harmonize with our creed ; then, if we remain true to the gifts, it knocks our creed all over at once. Making a creed is setting the stakes, and barring up the way to all future advancement. God put the gifts into the church for a good and great object; but men who have got up their churches, have shut up the way or have marked out a course for the Almighty. They say virtually that the Lord must not do anything further than what has been marked out in the creed. A creed and the gifts thus stand in direct opposition to each other.” James White, Review and Herald, October 8, 1861.

“In the absence of Bible testimony in their favor, many with unwearying persistence urged, — forgetting how the same reasoning had been employed against Christ and his apostles, — ‘Why do not our great men understand this Sabbath question? But few believe as you do. It cannot be that you are right, and that all the men of learning in the world are wrong.’ To refute such arguments it was needful only to cite the teachings of the Scriptures and the history of the Lord's dealings with his people in all ages. God works through those who hear and obey his voice, those who will, if need be, speak unpalatable truths, those who do not fear to reprove popular sins. The reason why he does not oftener choose men of learning and high position to lead out in reform movements is that they trust to their creeds, theories, and theological systems, and feel no need to be taught of God. Only those who have a personal connection with the Source of wisdom are able to understand or explain the Scriptures. Men who have little of the learning of the schools are sometimes called to declare the truth, not because they are unlearned, but because they are not too self-sufficient to be taught of God. They learn in the school of Christ, and their humility and obedience make them great. In committing to them a knowledge of his truth, God confers upon them an honor, in comparison with which earthly honor and human greatness sink into insignificance.” Great Controversy, 1888 edition page 455.

When a creed is formed it is human nature to rest on that creed and think that we have and know everything we need to. This is never a safe position to be in and leads us to treat those who are moving forward with coolness and often hardness just because they see things in a different light than we do.

Does not a statement of beliefs or a series of doctrinal test questions keep our ranks pure and preserve unity among us? No, sad experience has taught us that it does not. It only serves to divide, separate, and cause distrust and suspicion. The members of the church of God are to have confidence in their brethren, not suspicion of them.

“It is not in accordance with the mind of the Lord to encourage suspicion, jealousy, envy, and evil surmising. The Lord desires His people to unite and to look constantly to Jesus. They are to work in sympathy and love, with entire confidence in one another. Christ declares, ‘All ye are brethren.’” Manuscript Releases Vol. 5, page 364.

But how, it will be asked, are we to preserve purity and unity in our ranks, if we don’t have a creed? We answer that this is the work and office of the Holy Spirit, not of any man. “Now is the time for earnest wrestling with God. Our voices should join with the Saviour’s in that wonderful prayer: ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Many may ask, ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ The responsibility rests upon every individual. ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.’ The scheme of salvation is not to be worked out under the laws and rules specified by men. There must be no fixed rules; our work is a progressive work, and there must be room left for methods to be improved upon. But under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, unity must and will be preserved.” Review and Herald, July 23, 1895.

“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” Philippians 2:1-3.

An organization that does not have a creed forces it’s members to study the Bible for themselves. They must become established on the truth themselves so that they can combat error on an individual basis. A creed allows the church members to be lazy. If someone comes up with new light on a particular topic or is caught in a fanaticism, we can just refer them to our creed and not bother to study out their position and respond on an individual basis.

Also, if there is no creed and you are taken to court for your faith, the judge won’t be able to simply look up your church creed to find out what you believe and lump you into a group. You will be able to witness for your faith personally, as a Christian should.

“But the teacher of sacred truth can impart only that which he himself knows by experience. ‘The sower sowed his seed.’ Christ taught the truth because He was the truth. His own thought, His character, His life-experience, were embodied in His teaching. So with His servants: those who would teach the word are to make it their own by a personal experience. They must know what it is to have Christ made unto them wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. In presenting the word of God to others, they are not to make it a suppose-so or a may-be. They should declare with the apostle Peter, ‘We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty.’ 2 Peter 1:16. Every minister of Christ and every teacher should be able to say with the beloved John, ‘The life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.’ 1 John 1:2.” Christ’s Object Lessons, page 43.

Is there to be no order or organization in the remnant then? No, we must have order and organization, but this order is for missionary purposes, not control. (See Testimonies for the Church Vol. 6 page 29; Review and Herald September 12, 1907; Review and Herald, October 30, 1894.) James White once said, “There are those at the present time who start back at the idea of gospel order...They will have to learn that God has not called any of his people away from the confusion of the churches, designing that they should be left without discipline. In mercy he reached forth his hand, and enabled the Advent people in 1844 to break the cords of sectarianism that bound them, that they (the Philadelphia Church) might be disciplined and guided into the kingdom by the order and pure doctrines of the gospel. To suppose that the church of Christ is free from restraint and discipline, is the wildest fanaticism.” James White, Review and Herald, December 6, 1853.

But this order and organization will not bind men. True order will support and encourage them as they work for the Lord. “Those who know the truth are to be worked by the Holy Spirit, and not themselves to try to work the Spirit. If the cords are drawn much tighter, if the rules are made much finer, if men continue to bind their fellow-laborers closer and closer to the commandments of men, many will be stirred by the Spirit of God to break every shackle, and assert their liberty in Christ Jesus. If men would act toward their fellow-men as to those whom Christ loves, if they would obey the commandment to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself,’ there would be sweet harmony among the brethren. How much better it would be if those who claim to be Christians would behave like Christians. How much better it would be if all would cease speaking of their own good works and ways, indulging their self-esteem; refrain from the putting forth of the finger, imagining evil, and using their influence to weaken, oppress, and destroy. If men will not come to the terms made by the leading workers, they will not entertain them, they do not care what results may follow their injustice. With them it is rule or ruin. God has not appointed any man to do such work. And no human being shall be permitted to prescribe my liberty or intrench upon the perfect freedom of my brethren, without hearing my voice lifted in protest against it.” Review and Herald, July 23, 1895.

“The real character of the church is measured, not by the high profession she makes, not by the names enrolled upon the church book, but by what she is actually doing for the Master, by the number of her persevering, faithful workers. Personal interest, and vigilant, individual effort will accomplish more for the cause of Christ than can be wrought by sermons or creeds.” Review and Herald, September 6, 1881.

“The apostle showed that religion does not consist in rites and ceremonies, creeds and theories. If it did, the natural man could understand it by investigation, as he understands worldly things. Paul taught that religion is a practical, saving energy, a principle wholly from God, a personal experience of God's renewing power upon the soul.”Acts of the Apostles page 451.

So, will the remnant have a creed? In light of all that we have shared here, we answer a resounding – NO! to this question. The remnant will stand solidly united on the Bible. We must go back to that order established in Jerusalem and on which the Advent believers were building. We must build again on the platform they established and move forward solidly on the path of truth. Order is necessary, but it is an order that does not control any individual, but leaves each free to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in his own life and work. This is the order for which we strive, we will not be bound by what others think is the truth, we will stand free to seek and know the truth for ourselves and to follow were the Holy Spirit leads, regardless of what others may think or do.

Again we read that statement from the Great Controversy. “If God’s professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them from his Word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed, that which the apostle describes, ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ ‘There is,’ he says, ‘one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.’ Such were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted the Advent message.” Great Controversy. 1888 edition, page 379.

This is the only formula found in inspiration for true unity. Is this not worth striving for?

“The prayer of Christ to His Father, contained in the seventeenth chapter of John, is to be our church creed. It shows us that our difference and disunion are dishonoring to God. Read the whole chapter, verse by verse.” Manuscript Releases Vol. 5 page 49.

The Nicene Creed became the very foundation of the Roman Church, adopted by the east and the west, it is still at the foundation of the Papacy to this day. The remnant will not base their unity and organization on this type of Papal foundation. They will be based solidly on the Word of God and the last message of mercy. Any church organization that bases itself on the same foundation of a creed, even if every point of that creed is truth, is surely setting up an image to the Roman beast. Any church that bases their beliefs on any other creed than the Bible ceases to be a remnant church and becomes a Babylonian church. The true remnant never has had, does not have, and never will have a creed!

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